http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Ian Mills/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Ian Mills en-us Sat, 22 Nov 2008 12:24:09 UTC Sat, 22 Nov 2008 12:24:09 UTC After a fairly sporadic training schedule interrupted by university and work commitments trips home and a holiday involving more food and beer than is really good for me the big day of my first halfmarathon arrived The 32. Leipzig HalfMarathon We got up early and had a hearty breakfast with obligatory banana milkshakes and then cracked out the motivational CD whilst making final preparatio http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Germany/Saxony/Leipzig/blog-278585.html On telling friends and family that Vicky and I were off to a tour of the Baltics well Estonia and Latvia anyway taking in not just the touriststag party Meccas of Tallinn and Riga but also heading out of the capitals to the largely ignored towns of Tartu and Parnu we were greeted with a raised eyebrow and the uh huh ok.... response of uncertainty. This reaction sums up the position the Balt http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Estonia/Tallinn/blog-264081.html Right guys...I thought that it was probably about time for a bit of an update seeing the last entry in the blog was in October As most of you know i'm still studying in Leipzig and to be perfectly honest the last few months have been an absolute slog hence the lack of updates on the blog Uni is going pretty well but the sheer mass of readings started to get to me at the end of term and that http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Germany/Saxony/Leipzig/blog-252667.html After finishing work in Frankfurt in September it was straight to Leipzig to start my Masters course MA Global Studies with only a weekend to move into the new flat The move was fairly drawn out having to move my things from Frankfurt to Leipzig then going to Dresden to collect the rest of my stuff from the old flat and hauling that all to Leipzig too...all on the trainsThe first couple of w http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Germany/Saxony/Leipzig/blog-214575.html After having spent the last 7 months leading completely different lives Meliving and working in Germany Fagan finishing his Masters in Bath and Mike traveling the world the three of us decided to have a get quick gettogether before things got hectic again We met in Bremen on the Wednesday and stayed for 3 nights in the Townside Hosel. We had one main plan to catch up whilst sampling as http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Germany/District-of-Bremen/Bremen/blog-200866.html After a rather monotonous 7 weeks work at Bloomberg in Frankfurt I've finally been able to take some holiday and make it to the Baltic Sea to dampen the craving after the coast I was starting to feel a little landlocked in Frankfurt and so this trip was a welcome chance to get some fresh sea breezeI left Frankfurt on Thursday night and took the train which i very nearly missed involving a mad http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Germany/Schleswig-Holstein/Sch-nberg/blog-195151.html I have now been in Frankfurt am Main for a month and have now got used to the change in pace working from 8am to 6pm everyday for Bloomberg compared to the 12hrs a week whilst working as an English assistant. Frankfurt itself is a pretty nice town when you learn to take it for the rich boys rather pretentious city that it is I can certainly see why few Germans like this place However I ha http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Germany/Hessen/Frankfurt/blog-185875.html Today I moved from Dresden to Frankfurt am Main for my 3 month internship with Bloomberg. The journey on the ICE took only 4.5hrs but the difference in cities could be worlds apart as Frankfurt is the complete opposite to Dresden in every way Huge skyscrapers interrupt your view in every direction streets are filled with suited and booted office workers and things have suddenly got rather expe http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Germany/Hessen/Frankfurt/blog-175391.html Bratislava Vienna DresdenIan Mills 10th June 12th June Got up early today to pack up our stuff in Bratislava have a speedy breakfast in cafe Camoflague well worth a visit and then to head to the boat to get to Vienna. The Hydrofoil cost 17euro lasts 1.5hrs travels at 50kmph and is well worth it to have a great view of the Danube and drops you of fairly centrally in Vienna. We arri http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Austria/Vienna-State/Vienna/blog-168337.html Dresden BratislavaIan Mills 7th June 10th June I caught the night train from Dresden to Bratislava leaving on Thursday night at 9pm. To be honest the journey was uneventful other than chatting to some Canadians until Prague and ball breakingly boring espeically the hour that the train stood in Prague main station Finally managed to fall asleep on the uncomfortable chairs only to wake at http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Slovakia/Bratislava/blog-168312.html So...today was the last day of my contract with the British Council and the P.A.D meaning that it was also the last day at the 1.Mittelschule Am Kupferberg. I only had 4 lessons today which just turned out to be goodbye sessions with lots of cake and coffee At break time all the teachers meet to say goodbye and I was given some gifts pictures and cds of my time at the school To be honest http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Germany/Saxony/Gro-enhain/blog-164296.html This is now the 4th time THIS year that i've been to Prague but to be honest this trip turned out to be one of the most enjoyable Jorg my housemate woke me up at 07.30 this morning after only 2hrs sleep and far too many beers for our trip to Prague. There were 10 all German except me and Lucy Czech of us that travelled in 2 cars me Jorg Ralf Lucy and Katharinaa friend of Jorg's dra http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Czech-Republic/North/Prague/blog-163942.html UntitledIan Mills Oh yes...i'm on ANOTHER school trip At last it pays to be a man in a massively overly populated female school When it comes to school trip a man always have to travel too...queue ME for another week off of school We meet at school at 8am and were picked up by the coach which then God knows why drove to Alternburg via Dresden to pick up another school group only to driv http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Czech-Republic/North/Knezmost/blog-163937.html UntitledIan Mills My school is a European School with links with schools in Hungary Italy and Holland...every year they have an exchange programme with one of the schools in these countries this year it is with Holland and as there are so few male teachers at my school I was asked to travel to Holland and supervise the exchange. We travelled by train from Grossenhain to the school in Holland i http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Netherlands/Gelderland/Nijmegen/blog-159747.html Shortly before the Christmas break I decided that although Grossenhain is an nice town it was a bit small for me and I seemed to be spending most of my time travelling to Dresden so I started looking for a houseflat in Dresden. I found one quite quickly with some awesome German guys and moved in just before Christmas...sleeping on a borrowed mattress and living out of a rucksack but at least i http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Devon/Cullompton/blog-159746.html October BreakIan Mills In Saxony there is a massive 2 week school break so a few of the English assistants in and around Dresden decided to head off for a week in Prague followed by a few days in Berlin. We stayed in an awesome apartment right next to the Tyn Church in the centre of Prague which was very luxurious and cheap including 8 double beds 2 bathrooms and a kitchen. The usual tourist http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Czech-Republic/North/Prague/blog-159739.html The first weeks at school have passed pretty well...teaching has been going well and I have found my way around Grossenhain not that it is very difficult...been to Dresden a few times to meet up with Giles and the rugby boys from 2 years ago which has been awesome I have also enrolled in the TU Dresden so I'm a student again which means I can travel on my student card for 'free' from Grossenh http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Germany/Saxony/Gro-enhain/blog-159736.html Cologne GrossenhainIan Mills Today was finally the end of the seminar which meant the onward journey to Grossenhain to meet my mentor teacher Fr. Bge and get ready for teaching. It was an early start in Alternburg esp. after a rather alot of beers the nite before and an attempt to beat Mike at last man standing.. before we all piled back onto the buses for the trip to Cologne and to the http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Germany/Saxony/Gro-enhain/blog-159734.html Today was the first day of the Introductory Seminar in an incredibly small town called Alternberg near Cologne. This meant meeting infront of the Cathedral in the afternoon and then travelling with a coach to a Monstray...our home for the next week. I wasn't really expecting there to be that many people at the seminar but there was probably 250 people there in front of the cathedral waiting to http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Germany/North-Rhine-Westphalia/Cologne/blog-159722.html Brussels to CologneIan MillsAfter a night in Brussels I took the Thalys link to Cologne 2hrs to meet the group other assistants for our Introduction Seminar just outside of the city. I stayed in the Station Hostel in Cologne which was quite cool as there was a few other assistants staying in the same place waiting for the seminar the next day... After a look around the town and the cathedral I http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Germany/North-Rhine-Westphalia/Cologne/blog-159718.html